Details On Former New Orleans Saints Safety's Deal With The Miami Dolphins Now Available

Former New Orleans Saints safety Marcus Maye signed with the Miami Dolphins earlier this offseason.

Jun 13, 2023; New Orleans, LA, USA; New Orleans Saints safety Marcus Maye (6) looks on during minicamp at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports / Stephen Lew-USA TODAY Sports

Earlier this offseason, former New Orleans Saints starting safety Marcus Maye signed a deal with the Miami Dolphins. Having missed 17 games in the last two seasons, questions were lobbed regarding the structure of his new deal. Now, those questions are answered.

KPRC 2 Houston's Aaron Wilson reported the safety's numbers on Tuesday afternoon. The contract is a veteran minimum deal that qualifies for the veteran minimum benefit.

This benefit will allow Maye to count less against the salary cap than the base salary actually paid out. This is accomplished by giving a player a standard veteran minimum deal (in this case $1.21 million) as well as a signing bonus of $167,600. The Saints have used this exact same structure with both safety Will Harris and linebacker Khaleke Hudson this offseason.

Despite that amounting to a total north of $1.37 million, he will only count against the Dolphins' cap for $1.152 million. It is a cap-saving strategy for the Dolphins, but also a far cry from the three-year $28.5 million deal Maye signed with the Saints. An indication of how much things have changed for the talented player's expectations.

With Maye now having taken his talents to South Beach, the Saints will look to appoint a new starting safety next to star Tyrann Mathieu. All throughout OTAs and minicamps, veteran safety Johnathan Abram assumed the role. That is currently the expectation at the position for the 2024 year for now. But do expect second-year safety Jordan Howden to get his opportunities in training camp as well.